


Guns, knives and holy faith

by cian1675



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Gen, Guns, Investigations, Knives, Multi, Vampire Hunters, Vampires, a bit of the mystery genre too, corpses are mentioned during hunts, some exo members appear in minor roles, some violence, tags will be updated along the way
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-01-19 00:39:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12399525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cian1675/pseuds/cian1675
Summary: Kyungsoo's first lesson on hunting vampires: Don’t ever get religious symbols tattooed on your body if you don’t want to burn.Jongdae's first lesson on hunting vampires: Don't team up with a strange vampire to hunt vampires no matter how much Kyungsoo insists.





	1. Out of whack

**Author's Note:**

>   
> 

He blows out a puff of smoke, feels it coil around his tongue. Watches the grey ring dissipate into the air, fade into nothingness. In front of him, the scene doesn’t change. The warehouse is still but a smudge of dark against black skies, a channel of smoke rising from a hole in the middle of the roof. It takes another twenty minutes, three cigarettes and too many dissipated smoke rings before his boredom ends.

“Jongdae, stop smoking, it’s bad for you,” Kyungsoo says the moment he’s out. There’re streaks of black on his face, mixed with sweat and grease and who knows what else. Behind him, the door is ajar, fading reds and oranges consuming the carcass of the warehouse. Kyungsoo has a huge Tupperware in front of him. Jongdae relieves it from his arms, nods towards the driver seat of the car.

“A change of clothes.”

Kyungsoo gives what is possibly a smile.

“Thanks. I really need that.”

Jongdae shrugs, offers a smile in return. It’s not the first time he’s hunted with Kyungsoo, nor is it the first time he’d brought extra clothes for them to change into after. Still, it’s nice to be thanked. Kyungsoo turns away when he starts peeling his sweaty black tee over his head, but Jongdae doesn’t. He shuffles the Tupperware to rest on his hip – dang, the thing is heavy – then watches the glistening muscles of Kyungsoo’s fully inked back move as he wipes down the worse of the gunk on his body with the old tee before pulling on the fresh shirt.

Jongdae’s still looking when Kyungsoo finishes and turns back. He gets a short blink followed by a quirked brow, but all Kyungsoo says is –

“Come on, we still have to drive to the nearest three bodies of water before dawn to dispose of this.”

It’s not their usual protocol, but Jongdae doesn’t point it out. This whole evening had been out of whack from the start anyway.

 

 

 

One of the first things Kyungsoo had ever asked him was whether he’s religious.

It’s a strange question to ask someone you barely knew, but Jongdae had answered honestly. “Yes,” he had said, and then, in the same breath, “Why?”

Kyungsoo’s answer had been simply, “Just wanted to check. Anyway, lesson one of hunting vampires. Don’t ever get religious symbols tattooed on your body if you don’t want to burn.”

 _That_ had been an even weirder answer than the question. It didn’t make sense until Jongdae saw Kyungsoo’s upper body sans clothes one day, covered from neck to wrist in tattoos, disappearing down the hem of his sweatpants. And if the tattoos didn’t say enough, the fact that a lot of them were crosses, psalms and religious iconography had said more. The fact that most of them had various degree of old burn damage had said the most.

Of the burnt religious tattoos on Kyungsoo’s body that Jongdae’s managed to glimpse so far, the cross on his wrist has the worst damage. Or at least, Jongdae thinks it’s a cross. It’s kind of hard to tell, the skin mottled, shiny and pink, and right this moment, Kyungsoo’s rubbing it absently as he drives one-handed back to their motel. The sky’s just brightening up and they had barely managed to dump the ashes of their latest hunt into three different lakes.

“Does it hurt?” Jongdae asks.

Kyungsoo makes a face like he doesn’t get the question until he follows Jongdae’s gaze to where he’s running his fingers over his scar. He stops the motion immediately, places the offending hand on the steering wheel.

“Nah, it doesn’t.”

It’s said a little too dismissively to be entirely truthful, but Kyungsoo doesn’t seem to be in pain the rest of the drive nor does he touch that scar again. Jongdae decides that’s good enough.

 

 

 

They spend a few more days at the motel. This is protocol, to stay around and see if they’ve missed any vampires in case the victims were the work of more than a lone ranger. What wasn’t protocol was the extra vampire they had killed. Or more accurately, _Kyungsoo_ had killed. The one Kyungsoo had felt the need to scatter his ashes into three different bodies of water when normally they’ll just toss all the ashes into the nearest lake.

“I’m just being safe,” Kyungsoo says when Jongdae asks two days after the hunt. “It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Some really powerful vampires can still resurrect if they somehow recombine all their ashes.” He shrugs like that wasn’t a particularly terrifying thought, then goes back to oiling the disassembled parts of his guns.

Wiping down his own daggers, polishing them so the silvered blades are shining again, Jongdae frowns. Kyungsoo had avoided talking about the vampire he’d killed, the one they weren’t hunting for. Also –

“You mean the other vampires we killed before could technically come back because we didn’t dump their ashes into different lakes? And you’re telling me this only now?”

Kyungsoo laughs.

“Technically yes, but I’m pretty sure they weren’t powerful enough.”

Well, that’s reassuring. Not. His thoughts must show on his face because Kyungsoo chuckles.

“Seriously though, Jongdae. They weren’t even smart enough to realise my tattoos are useless against them most of the time. I’m 99% sure they’re not going to resurrect and ruin our effort at killing them.”

Jongdae’s honestly still skeptical, but Kyungsoo’s more experienced than he is at being a hunter, so all he replies is, “Well… if you’re sure…”

He’s picking up another blade when he remembers something Kyungsoo said.

“Wait, your tattoos don’t work anymore?”

(And to think Jongdae had been trying to discreetly figure out if Kyungsoo might be hiding any burns from him since the other night.)

“Nah,” Kyungsoo answers easily. “They haven’t in a long time.” He pops his silver bullets into a box, counts them off before closing the lid. Jongdae notices the count hasn’t changed since after they’d finished their official hunt a full two weeks ago. Kyungsoo hadn’t used his usual guns for the extra vampire he’d killed, only a flamethrower, and even then, the fuel was an extra purchase paid fully in cash. It’s all out of their usual hunting routine, whacked as hell, but Kyungsoo hasn’t said much about it besides the excuse that it doesn’t hurt to kill one more vampire since they’re in the area. It doesn’t seem so simple. They’ve been in other places and Kyungsoo’s never really voluntarily hunted extra vampires before. Jongdae nibbles on the inside of his cheek.

“Why don’t your tattoos work? I remember you telling me they’ll burn.”

Kyungsoo packs his ammo in a duffel bag.

“Religious symbols in general, and religious tattoos specifically, only work when you’re a believer. I guess I just don’t have faith anymore.”

He says it simply, like it’s a fact he’s no longer fazed by. Jongdae can’t help but wonder if it’s really that simple.

 

 

 

The org calls them just as they are getting ready to leave the motel.

“Okay, got it,” Kyungsoo says after what seemed like a five minute and mostly one-sided conversation is concluded. He ends the call, then turns to look at Jongdae.

“Guess we’re not going back yet. There’s been fresh killings and we’re the nearest hunters around.”

Jongdae picks up where this is going immediately.

“Alright alright. How far is this place?”

Kyungsoo tosses his duffel bag into the car boot. Stretches a hand out for Jongdae’s bag, which he gives, only for Kyungsoo to carelessly dump into the boot.

“Five hours.”

And then, without any other warning, Kyungsoo tosses the car keys at him.

“You’re driving this time.”

Jongdae groans. He hates driving. Still, he pulls his hair elastic from around his wrist to tie up his hair and gets into the driver’s seat. This is going to be a long day.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo complains the whole way. Or well, he doesn’t really, not verbally anyway, but Jongdae feels the glances and glares Kyungsoo throws him every time their journey gets bumpy. It’s not his fault that he grew up in Seoul and rode subways his whole life until he came to America. Still, the ride is only the start of a crappy day. They’re just settling into a new motel, getting ready to start research, when Kyungsoo gets another call.

Kyungsoo’s expression doesn’t change as he listens, but he does blink several times in succession.

“What’s the matter?”

Sliding his phone back into his pocket, Kyungsoo says, “They found fangs on the latest victim.”

“Fangs? As in embedded in the skin?” Because that’s a heck of a publicity issue, Jongdae thinks, but Kyungsoo shakes his head.

“No, fangs as in the victim drained of blood has fangs instead of human incisors.”

Wait… that means –

“Someone’s draining vampires?”

Kyungsoo’s expression can only be described as grim.

“It would seem.”

 

 

 

Normally by this time on their hunt, Jongdae and Kyungsoo would be at the morgue to check on the victims. Vampire hunters aren’t really legal enforcers but when the local police force is ill-equipped to deal with vampires themselves, they’re usually not adamant to letting a bunch of vampire hunters check out the victims. It’s not like they don’t confiscate all their weapons before they let Kyungsoo and Jongdae in anyway. But today, Kyungsoo’s told Jongdae to go check the victims himself, said he has something else he has to do.

So here Jongdae is, alone in the morgue with just a police officer and medical examiner behind him, latex gloves on as he tries to check the gums of the pale corpse. It’ll be easier if rigor mortis hasn’t set in, or if he has Kyungsoo around to help. He’s not sure where the guy’s gone off to or what he’s doing. Jongdae sighs, then tries a little harder at his current task of examining the victim’s mouth. He doesn’t realise his ring is digging into the victim’s lip until the medical examiner yells –

“He’s doing something to the corpse, it’s smoking –”

And Jongdae lifts both hands up, a reflex, feeling the warm tingle around his fourth finger where his silver ring is and where it had apparently been nudging into the victim’s lips because there’s now a darkish patch on the greyish skin where there hadn’t been before.

He’s being shuffled out of the morgue just like that, the police officer suddenly distrusting, muttering something about hunters being crap and Jongdae would say something, but he’s still trying to wrap his mind around the realisation that the victim’s really a vampire.

 _Was_. A vampire.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo takes too long to pick him up from the morgue. Jongdae’s gone through the rest of his pack of cigarettes, braided his hair, untied it then retied it into a ponytail, then a bun, and only after that does Kyungsoo appear.

“Sorry, didn’t think you’ll be done so fast,” Kyungsoo says as Jongdae gets into the passenger seat.

“I didn’t. They chased me out before I even finished looking at victim number one,” Jongdae says as he tilts the aircon vents towards his sweaty body.

Kyungsoo frowns at him.

“What happened?”

“The silver ring on my hand reacted with the victim’s skin, and they thought I was trying to damage the corpse or something.” Jongdae snorts, then switches to a more serious tone. “And I didn’t manage to see if he has fangs, but if he reacted to silver even through latex gloves…”

Kyungsoo finishes the sentence for him.

“He’s probably a vampire huh.”

“Yeah,” Jongdae replies, still unsure what this really says. They’ve never had vampires as victims before. Humans drained of blood, he’s seen those aplenty, but vampires? It’s the first time he’s encountered something like this. Hell, he hadn’t even thought about the fact that vampires _could_ drain other vampires. When he mentions this, Kyungsoo’s fingers tighten on the steering wheel, just a fraction.

“Well, of course vampires can drain other vampires,” Kyungsoo says eventually.

“Have you seen it before?”

“Not personally, no,” Kyungsoo answers. He leaves it at that, and the rest of the drive back to the motel is silent.

 

 

 

Day turns to night soon afterwards. The two of them are in the motel after dinner, Jongdae unpacking, cleaning his knives while he checks news articles on his laptop and Kyungsoo heads into the bathroom or out of their shared room to answer calls. There’s a bunch of them. Usually the only people Kyungsoo contacts on his phone are from the org, so Jongdae’s not sure what him taking so many calls in the span of an hour means.

“Am I in trouble?”

Kyungsoo blinks at him as he reenters the room. “No? Why would you think that?”

Oh. “I dunno. It’s the first time I got chased out of a morgue like that.”

Kyungsoo runs a hand over his short cropped hair, scrunches his face. “Well, it’s not ideal but it’s fine. We’re still on the case.” There’s a pause, and then, “Anyway, did you find anything on the news?”

Jongdae shakes his head. “Nope. It’s all hush hush. The police systems don’t have new victims either, and other than that one coroner who found fangs on the latest victim, no one else recorded anything that might indicate our other victims are not human.”

Kyungsoo comes over, peers over Jongdae’s shoulders to squint at the screen.

“You hacked into the police files again?”

Jongdae shifts, a little uncomfortable.

“Well, yeah. I didn’t find anything else on the public channels and it’s not like I’m doing anything besides re-polishing my knives.”

The sound Kyungsoo lets out comes a little too close to Jongdae’s ear, but he doesn’t move. After a while, Kyungsoo steps back, tucks his hands into his pockets. Jongdae wonders if he’s going to get a lecture but instead, Kyungsoo scratches his ear absently, slouches a little.

“By the way, uh, I… asked someone else for a little help. They should be arriving soon.”

Jongdae’s fingers pause over his laptop. He hits the x on the hacked files before he asks, “Who… Are they from the org?”

There’re two train of thoughts in Jongdae’s mind right now, the first being why they need extra help, if that means Kyungsoo thinks the vampire responsible for this is more than the two of them can handle, and what _that_ means. The second one goes more along the lines of whether Kyungsoo finds Jongdae’s help inadequate, if Jongdae has somehow failed as a hunter, and whether the new guy is here to replace him.

As it turns out, he doesn’t get a chance to ask any of the questions because there’s a knock on their motel room door just then, and Kyungsoo stands up way too fast. Jongdae’s a close second behind, bumping into Kyungsoo’s back when he suddenly stops after opening the door. Jongdae halts too, freezes actually, for just a fraction of a second before his reflexes catch up. The small pocket blade he always carries grazes the new guy’s face before Kyungsoo grabs his wrist.

“Wait, don’t hurt him. I was the one who called him here. He’s the extra help.”

There’s the tiniest tension in Kyungsoo’s voice but he sounds otherwise normal. _Calm_. In front of them, the new guy meets Jongdae’s eyes for a moment, dark brown irises blinking silver for an instant before going back to brown and Jongdae doesn’t understand what Kyungsoo’s saying –

“B-but he’s a _vampire_ –”

Kyungsoo cuts in with a note of what sounds like finality, or maybe resignation –

“I _know_.”

Jongdae looks between Kyungsoo and the new guy, not comprehending what’s going on. When he catches the guy’s – the vampire’s – eyes again, all Jongdae gets for an explanation is –

“Oh, trust me, _I_ know I’m a vampire too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always wanted to write baekchensoo and apparently I have a weakness for vampire fics so uhm. Here you go. The title is basically Kyungsoo's, Jongdae's and Baekhyun's weapon of choice against vampires, and I should thank Jo for giving me that idea, *plus* listening to me ramble about the fic~
> 
> Anyway, I know this is just an intro but I'll love to know what you think of the story so far ^^


	2. History

The new guy introduces himself as Baekhyun. He does this casually while crossing the threshold, mere seconds after he reminds Kyungsoo he needs to be invited into the room before he can enter because “ _hello, vampire here_ ”.

Jongdae looks at Baekhyun’s loose-limbed gait, watches Kyungsoo turn his back on the vampire without any hesitation to shut the door. He doesn’t think he does anything besides remain rooted in place but something must have caught Baekhyun’s attention because he says –

“Relax, I’m not going to do anything.”

Jongdae’s eyebrows shoots up before he can stop them. Baekhyun chuckles and it sounds strangely like Kyungsoo’s laughter. Jongdae flips his blade closed, fiddles with it in one hand.

“You’re a vampire.”

Baekhyun looks around the room.

“Well, evidently. I thought we’ve established that.”

He sounds vaguely amused, but also like he’s trying not to be. Jongdae doesn’t know what to make of that. So he turns to Kyungsoo.

“What’s going on?”

Kyungsoo has a hand scratching the back of his neck.

“He’s, uh, Baekhyun’s here to help with the hunt.”

The hunt. The _vampire_ hunt. “Except you know, he’s also a vampire? Doesn’t that seem a little…”

“Like a conflict of interest?” Baekhyun suggests.

“Well, _isn’t it_?”

Jongdae’s tone comes out sharper than intended and he sees Kyungsoo make a face, but the guy doesn’t say anything. Jongdae lets out a breath. He’s not even sure what’s going on anymore. Or at least, he doesn’t, until Kyungsoo finally speaks up.

“Baekhyun knows more than we do about vampires draining vampires.”

His voice is soft but the room is quiet, quiet enough that the sentence echoes long after Kyungsoo finishes. The words take a while to settle in.

And then, all at once, the implications come rushing in.

“You…”

Baekhyun’s seated at the desk, back straight even as his posture is casual. He completes Jongdae’s sentence once again.

“I’m a vampire, but I’m also a vampire hunter.”

And then, before Jongdae even says anything, Baekhyun continues –

“And yes, in case you’re wondering, I do drain vampires.”

 

 

 

Jongdae’s in the car park, a fresh pack of cigarettes in hand. He lights one up, slips it between his lips, inhales.

_Ah._

The ritual calms him down even though he had to drive to a convenience store to pick it up. He’s almost finishing the first stick when someone clears their throat behind him.

“…hey,” Kyungsoo says, the most uncomfortable Jongdae’s seen him. “Sorry for springing that on you without any warning.”

Instead of responding, Jongdae stubs out his cigarette end, lights up a new one. Kyungsoo merely watches, not commenting on the smoke even though Jongdae knows he hates the smell. After a while, Jongdae relents.

“Why do we need _his_ help of all people? I mean, won’t someone else knows what he knows? Like someone in the organisation? Or like, can’t we figure out this hunt by ourselves like we’d always done before?”

Kyungsoo takes a seat next to Jongdae instead of replying. Blowing out one last puff of smoke, Jongdae stubs out the rest of his cigarette. There’s still half a stick left. For a while, they sit in silence. Then, Kyungsoo says quietly –

“Baekhyun has an ability. He… can sense vampires.”

The silver rings and bracelets against Jongdae’s skin are warm, warmer than usual. The piercing on his nose is almost uncomfortably hot. He rubs the pads of his fingers over the smooth metal, slides the hoop around a little.

“…sense vampires how?”

Kyungsoo makes a little sound of what could be frustration.

“I’m not sure exactly. All I know is that it’s a really useful ability, being able to sense how many vampires are in the vicinity and to be able to tell roughly how strong they are.”

Kyungsoo shrugs, looks to the door of the motel room where Baekhyun is and Jongdae follows not Kyungsoo’s gaze but the expression on his face. There’s something in it that Jongdae can’t quite place.

“Well…”

If Jongdae’s being honest, the ability does sound very useful to have on a hunt but it doesn’t override the fact that Baekhyun’s the very thing they’re supposed to be hunting down. Kyungsoo probably sense his hesitation because he adds simply –

“I know this is a lot to take in. But if it’s any help, Baekhyun and I used to hunt together.”

Jongdae blinks.

“You used to hunt with him?”

He doesn’t know much of Kyungsoo’s history but Jongdae does know that Kyungsoo had come from a family of hunters. He can’t imagine how a vampire hunter trained from young would know a vampire, let alone hunt with him. Jongdae mentions this as casually as he can, watches Kyungsoo’s lips turn up slowly in an almost smile. It doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“You know, Baekhyun wasn’t always a vampire. He was human before.”

Kyungsoo takes a breath, stands up with his hands tucked into his jacket.

“We grew up together.”

He halts abruptly and Jongdae waits, wonders if he’s going to say more. He doesn’t. Instead, what Jongdae gets is a vaguely apologetic remark that he can take his time to think about this over the night, and the next thing he knows, he’s watching Kyungsoo’s retreating back as Kyungsoo returns to their room. Just like that, Jongdae’s left alone in the empty car park with only his smokes for company. Instead of giving in to the urge to light another cigarette, Jongdae huffs and runs a hand through his hair. Maybe he should ask for another room for the night.

 

\---------

 

Kyungsoo returns faster than Baekhyun expects.

“How’s he, your hunting partner?”

Kyungsoo removes his jacket, shuts the door.

“Jongdae would need some time to wrap his mind around this. I told him to think about it over the night.”

There’s a flash of bare arms when the jacket comes off, Kyungsoo’s inked skin covered by only a thin t-shirt. Before Baekhyun says anything, Kyungsoo catches his gaze, tugs the jacket back on again. It gives Baekhun pause, makes a weird sensation well up under his skin. He swallows it down, chooses not to comment on it. Instead, Baekhyun watches Kyungsoo settle on the bed, still fully dressed. Their eyes meet. If this was before, that look would have been an invitation for Baekhyun to sit next to him. Now, however, Baekhyun remains where he is by the desk. He doesn’t realise he has his thumb between his teeth until Kyungsoo points it out.

“You haven’t gotten over that habit? How does that work with fangs anyway?”

Baekhyun shrugs, nibbling the joint of his thumb for a little more before he pulls it out, wipes the saliva on his jeans.

“I guess I just avoid the fangs? It’s not like all my teeth are that sharp.”

Kyungsoo nods as if he hadn’t already known that from their training as kids. Baekhyun frowns a little, continues –

“Anyway, you should probably pay a little more attention to Jongdae. This is your hunt with him after all. I’m only here because you asked for my help.”

Kyungsoo nods again. His face is turned a little away, fingers fiddling over his nails. After a beat, he says quietly –

“And you came just ‘cause I asked you to? Even though you’re supposed to be hiding?”

Baekhyun lets out a small scoff. He’s been hiding, sure, but that’s about as much Kyungsoo’s suggestion ( _insistence_ ) as it had been Baekhyun’s own decision.

“What kind of answer do you want me to tell you?”

There’s a furrow in Kyungsoo’s thick brows so Baekhyun quickly adds –

“Look, hiding or not, there’s no guarantee that I’ll be safe anywhere. So it doesn’t really hurt to be here, especially not when the vampire you’re hunting already drains other vampires. It’s not like I’ll have to work very hard to cover up my tracks when I need to feed here.”

Kyungsoo’s lips purse for a moment before he spreads his hands out in a gesture as if to say, _I guess_. But then, his eyes turn serious, and Baekhyun decides to cut in before Kyungsoo can open his mouth.

“If you’re going to say anything about how I should be careful because someone’s draining vampires around here, please don’t. I can take care of myself and we both know human blood is as appealing as, if not more appealing than vampire blood. So we’re all at risk here, just like how all vampire hunters are anyway.”

A lopsided sort-of smile graces Kyungsoo’s lips even as his brows remained furrowed and god, Baekhyun kind of forgot how good Kyungsoo can look with something other than a neutral stoic expression.

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Kyungsoo remarks, the half-amused grin still on his face. “I was actually going to say that, uh –”

He stops suddenly.

“…you know what, never mind.”

Baekhyun raises a single eyebrow. It doesn’t work on Kyungsoo – it never did even when they were kids – so all he does in the end is wait until Kyungsoo decides to talk again. It doesn’t take very long. Kyungsoo slides a hand into his jacket pocket, fiddles with something before he takes it out. It isn’t what Baekhyun expects to see.

“That’s…”

“Your clan ring, yes.”

 _Our_ clan ring, Baekhyun thinks but he’s too distracted by the familiar crest engraved on the face of the ring to correct Kyungsoo. Instead he stares at the thick band he used to wear all the time but can no longer even hold because it’s made of silver. In front of him, Kyungsoo gets up, walks over with the ring cradled loosely in his hand.

“I got clear resin casted over it. You can have it back now, if you want.”

Kyungsoo holds the ring out in the heart of his palm, waiting. Instead of picking it up, Baekhyun carefully turns his own hand face up, motions for Kyungsoo to drop it into his palm instead. There’s no strange sensation when the ring lands on his skin, no feeling of being jolted, just a heavy comforting weight. Something wells up in Baekhyun’s chest. He doesn’t say a thing, but he thinks maybe Kyungsoo gets it anyway.

“Welcome back,” Kyungsoo mumbles softly and then he’s stepping away, leaving under the excuse of showering. Baekhyun remains still until the bathroom door closes, but once it does, he’s taking in deep breaths even though he no longer has to breathe in order to survive.

_Welcome back._

 

 

 

Dawn comes before Kyungsoo manages to fill him in fully on the hunt. Baekhyun falls into a dead sleep, waking up after sunset the next day to find Kyungsoo in the motel room. Surprisingly, Jongdae is around too, hunched at the desk over a laptop.

“Hello,” Baekhyun says, then immediately grimaces internally at how lame that came out. Jongdae looks up, giving him a wary look but he doesn’t do anything else. “How’s the case going?” He settles on asking. He isn’t sure how Jongdae’s feeling after last night but Baekhyun figures it’s probably a good sign if the guy’s still around.

“…well, Kyungsoo managed to convince one of the morgues to let us in to check on another victim. It turned out to be a vampire,” Jongdae says after a while when Kyungsoo doesn’t answer.

“Okay.”

Baekhyun hums, mind slowly turning in his post-sleep haze to work through what they’ve learnt so far. There’re five victims reported to the org, one just confirmed to be a vampire and another who had reacted to Jongdae’s silver ring yesterday, which makes him potentially a vampire as well. Kyungsoo and Jongdae haven’t found anything to connect the five victims so far, no common history or physical characteristics, nothing to indicate that this might be something more than a normal hunt with scattered victim profiles if not for the fact that they have victims who are not human. Baekhyun’s idly scrubbing his face, trying to recall what else Kyungsoo had told him last night, when Jongdae clears his throat.

“Kyungsoo said you can sense vampires…”

The end of Jongdae’s sentence turns off on a higher note, a statement phrased as a half-question. Baekhyun blinks sleepily.

“Yeah, I can.”

There’s a little pause, Jongdae’s lips pressed in a line. The corners of his mouth are turned up in what seems to be the default shape of his lips rather than him smiling right now.

“Can you like, uh… Are you able to do that now?”

Baekhyun looks at him, takes in the tentative glance Jongdae gives, eyes not quite meeting his, the soft lilt of his voice, unsure. He vaguely wonders if his ability is the only reason Jongdae’s still around despite his initial reaction yesterday. On the other side of the room, Kyungsoo looks at him as well, probably waiting for an answer. Baekhyun scratches his cheek awkwardly.

“I… need to feed first.”

“Oh,” Jongdae lets out, the sound reflexive in how quickly it escapes. Kyungsoo only blinks once, slowly, but Baekhyun can tell he’s taken by surprise too. Trying to defuse the awkward air, Baekhyun smiles as nicely as he can, closed-lipped so his fangs don’t show. He gets up without trying to explain more. Along his throat, the craving is gradually but surely inching up, and he really should go and feed before doing anything else. Promising to return soon, Baekhyun throws on an old jacket, momentarily reminded of the ring hanging around his neck when it swings as he gets up. He pays it no mind. Maybe later, if Kyungsoo asks, he’ll have time to explain how his sensing ability has changed. But for now, food comes first.

 

 

 

It ends up being Jongdae who asks first.

“So… how does this sensing vampires thing work?”

It’s just Jongdae in the room; Kyungsoo supposedly gone off to get food. Still bent over his laptop, Jongdae’s typing lazily with one hand while he spins a blade in the other. Baekhyun eyes the knife cautiously, only looks away when he’s sure Jongdae knows what he’s doing enough to not lose grip and injure anyone.

“Did Kyungsoo say anything?”

“…not much,” Jongdae answers with a small shrug. He’s still playing with the blade idly. “He told me you can sense how many vampires there are in the vicinity and how strong they are but he wasn’t very clear about it.”

Baekhyun blows out a puff of air, pulls his jacket off.

“Oh.”

Balling his jacket up to trash, Baekhyun catches sight of Jongdae’s eyes widening and he knows the other’s spotted the shredded back and dark stains on the fabric. He halts then – waits for a comment to come because he knows it’s one thing to hear about a vampire feeding and another to see evidence of it – but the remark on his kill doesn’t come. Instead, Jongdae looks at him with an unreadable expression, eyes dark and then something else.

“It was a vampire, if you were wondering.”

He’s not sure why he says it, but his answer to Jongdae’s unvoiced question makes Jongdae nod jerkily, seemingly caught by surprise. Deciding to be nice, Baekhyun goes back to the question Jongdae had asked previously.

“About sensing vampires… I just close my eyes and concentrate? Usually I can detect a presence when a vampire is nearby. It kind of just shows up in my mind…” He can’t really explain it well, never was really good at it even after Kyungsoo’s asked so many times before, so he leaves it at that.

Jongdae sits quietly, seeming to consider before he speaks.

“Does it work something like a blip on a radar?”

Baekhyun chews on his thumb.

“Sort of, I guess? It works better when I’m not tired or hungry and yeah, I guess you can imagine it as fuzzy red dots on a black screen in my mind’s eye or something.”

“Hmm…”

Baekhyun watches Jongdae hum, tossing the blade and catching it with the other hand. He’s not looking at Baekhyun – which is fine – but he’s not really looking at his knife either and that vaguely worries Baekhyun. He doesn’t realise he’s staring until Jongdae’s question snaps him out of it.

“What’s the extent of your sensing? How far does it reach?”

“Uh…” Baekhyun blinks, turns his head away. “I’m not sure? This town, maybe, or a bit of the next one if I concentrate harder.” He’d never had to use his ability for anything further than that when he was human, and he’s definitely not stretched it _after_ , although that’s for a different reason. Still, he doesn’t think anyone in his family has tried pushing their limits either, at least, not the last he’d heard about them. A town’s pretty much a big enough radius for hunting.

In front of him, no longer turned towards his laptop, Jongdae flicks his wrist, turning his blade in a particularly dangerous looking arc. Baekhyun thinks he’s going to continue asking questions – questions about Baekhyun’s ability because that’s probably the only reason why Jongdae hasn’t chased him out yet – but instead, what comes next is –

“How do you know Kyungsoo?”

“Uh… We grew up together?” Baekhyun’s biting his thumb again, not sure when he’d even moved his hand. He wipes it off, doesn’t realise he has another nervous habit until Jongdae’s standing up, neck craned, brows furrowed.

“Is that… Isn’t that Kyungsoo’s?”

The ring is between his fingers, cool against his thumb still tingling with the dull indents, hanging from a cord around his neck. Baekhyun lets it go, lets the weight swing against his shirt. There’s the vaguest sensation of the crest imprinted against his fingertips although he wonders if he’d actually felt it or if he’s just overthinking.

“It’s mine, actually.”

“Oh, Jongdae lets out, stops suddenly just two steps in front of him. Baekhyun hadn’t even noticed he’d gotten up. Or how close he’s gotten. He eases back a little.

“Yeah.”

Jongdae doesn’t move for a while, looking between their feet – too close – and the ring in the center of Baekhyun’s chest. A flash of silver in the corner of his eye reminds Baekhyun that Jongdae’s still fiddling with his blade and even though it’s not his intention, Baekhyun finds himself taking another step back. In front of him, Jongdae’s lip twitch, the corner of his eyes crinkling ever so slightly. And then, without a word, Jongdae’s stepping back himself, sliding his blade behind his back and under his shirt. There’s the barest peek of skin and something brown but it’s covered before Baekhyun notices anything else about the sheath. He blinks. It takes a while to process but before he says anything, Jongdae’s soft voice starts –

“You know, Kyungsoo wore that ring for the longest time when I first met him. That’s why I assumed it was his.”

The resin-coated metal is suddenly oddly warm even through his shirt, and Baekhyun shifts slightly, lets it hang away from his chest.

“I…I didn’t –” _know_ , Baekhyun almost says, but the door opens just then, startling the both of them. Baekhyun backs up jerkily, nearly knocking into Kyungsoo walking in but he manages to step aside in time to avoid bodily contact. _Lucky_. A single eyebrow twitches on Kyungsoo’s face.

“Did something happen while I was gone?”

“Nah,” Baekhyun answers, a little too fast. He plasters on a big grin to hide it. On the other side, Jongdae has a smile of his own, a brief curl of his lips as he shakes his head. They’re probably not very convincing and the face Kyungsoo makes confirms it, but instead of probing, what Kyungsoo says is –

“Well… the food’s here so let’s eat.”

Jongdae moves to take the bag from Kyungsoo, and Baekhyun sneaks to the side, lets out a breath of what might be relief.

“I’ll just look through the information while you guys eat,” he says, then gets down to work, pushing the other things not about the hunt to the back of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm surprised I got so many comments on the first chapter so I want to say thank you, even though I've been slow in replying! I like to keep comments around to use as motivation while writing and sometimes I forget it's been a while and I haven't replied. But I truly appreciate all the comments and kudos!
> 
> And ah, this chapter took a while to write, partly because work was a pain and partly cos my words weren't flowing right so I had to basically retype the whole thing to rework the flow. I'll love to know what you think or any speculations you might have~ And if anyone's interested, I [tweet about writing](https://twitter.com/cian1675) sometimes.


	3. Silly, selfish, stupid

Jongdae isn’t fond of Baekhyun. That much Kyungsoo can tell, even though, in some irrational part of his mind, he’d been hoping that they would get along.

_Silly._

_Selfish._

_Stupid._

It’s obvious why, of course. Jongdae’s a vampire hunter, first and foremost, and Baekhyun’s not Baekhyun first, the way he is to Kyungsoo, but a vampire. It’s funny how that one fact is the one that matters most, when in the past, Baekhyun had always been the one to befriend people on their missions with ease while Kyungsoo’s the one left scrambling to play pleasant. Instead, now, it’s the other way, Baekhyun scrambling to play pleasant while Jongdae stares daggers – metaphoric ones – in his back as he stuffs food into his mouth. Kyungsoo watches this while he gets rid of cilantro from his sandwich, wondering if they would ever get along, or it had just been a really bad move to ask Baekhyun for help.

_Silly. Selfish. Stupid._

 

 

 

Nothing happens for the next few days. Kyungsoo spends most of it going around the police stations with Jongdae, asking if there are new victims, checking the missing persons records to see if they can identify the drained victims –

“It’s so weird to think of them as victims when I know they were vampires,” Jongdae mumbles absently, and Kyungsoo has to pause for a moment before he remembers to start the engine.

“…victims are victims, vampire or not,” Kyungsoo eventually settles for saying, closing his mouth before he adds anything else.

Jongdae looks at him through the rearview mirror, expression inscrutable. Keeping his eyes on the road, Kyungsoo tries not to flinch, tries not to imagine how he’ll feel if Baekhy – no, _someone_ , some vampire – was drained instead of a human.

( _Some_ vampire, as if just _any_ vampire would make him feel _something_ , proof being the ones he’d already examined wordlessly in the morgues, detached and clinical.)

“Victims are victims,” Kyungsoo says again, probably more for himself than for Jongdae this time.

Beside him, Jongdae doesn’t say anything, just pulls off his hair tie to redo his bun. It’s some time later that Jongdae sighs, says, “Well, let’s just find the asshole who did this.”

It’s not really an answer, but it’s something. Kyungsoo nods, briefly.

 

 

 

Baekhyun spends his night trying to sense vampires – vampires who are not him. Kyungsoo leaves him to it, decides not to tag along because Baekhyun makes that face – the one that says he thinks Kyungsoo doesn’t trust him enough and Kyungsoo wants to, wants to trust him so much, so he leaves him alone even though his feet are itching to follow. It’s only repeating the fact that Baekhyun had taken care of himself just fine in the five years they were apart and that one more night won’t hurt that Kyungsoo manages to sit in the motel, dig through decades old databases and records to figure out who their victims are instead of running after Baekhyun.

Still, despite their efforts – Kyungsoo and Jongdae on the police, morgue and database end of searching, Baekhyun on the vampire-sensing end of it – a week passes with no leads. There’s no new victims either, which is a good thing, but it makes it harder to hunt, to track down the vampire who did this, and it makes Kyungsoo wonder if they’re too slow, if they’ve lost the trail already. Apparently, he’s not the only one frustrated with their lack of progress, because Jongdae’s been fidgety all day, dagger spinning on his hand any time he’s not in front of people – policemen, morticians and fast food cashiers.

They’re laying out all the clues they have – fuzzy photos of the victims’ corpses taken in the morgues’ dim lighting, a map with marker-drawn points of where they were found – when Baekhyun’s pulling on a jacket, getting ready for his night hunt. Other than the first night, Baekhyun’s been wearing the same jacket, neat and blood-free, and Kyungsoo figures that means he hasn’t fed in between. There’s also that slightly drawn look in his eyes, the same signs of exhaustion he has as a human before, which leads Kyungsoo to this assumption. Of course, he can just ask instead of assume, but Kyungsoo hasn’t managed to talk to Baekhyun properly on the first night he’d come and after that Baekhyun doesn’t seem to stay in the room for long when it’s night and Jongdae drags Kyungsoo out early in the morning to do their rounds. And now, it’s been a week and Kyungsoo’s not sure if he’d lost the timing. So he just pinches his nose, gets back to reading badly documented missing persons records when suddenly, Jongdae stands up.

“This is not working.”

Baekhyun stops where he is by the door, hand on the handle.

“Well, if you have an idea –”

“I do, actually,” Jongdae says, voice oddly quiet despite his earlier exclamation.

Kyungsoo looks up. This is news to him.

“What’s your idea?” He should be annoyed that Jongdae didn’t say this earlier, hadn’t mentioned it during all the time they spent together in the day, but he’s not going to dismiss anything that might help them find another angle on this hunt. “Well?” he prompts when Jongdae doesn’t elaborate.

Jongdae’s sort of hesitant, and when he finally speaks again, Kyungsoo figures out why.

“It kind of needs Baekhyun to test out the limit of his ability to sense vamps, see if we get any presence that’s particularly strong from the nearby towns because a vampire that’s draining other vamps is probably either pretty damn strong or pretty damn smart.”

“That’s –” _probably not a good idea_ , Kyungsoo is about to say, even though Jongdae’s logic isn’t unsound, but then, Baekhyun cuts in –

“Test out my limits how?”

He has a hard look in his eyes, determined, and it’s then Kyungsoo realises Baekhyun’s just as frustrated as Jongdae is at their lack of progress on the hunt, because this is –

“This could be reckless,” Kyungsoo gets out carefully, checking Baekhyun’s reaction at every turn because he doesn’t want him to think he’s undermining his abilities. Baekhyun returns his look with an even gaze of his own, which Kyungsoo holds, wondering if Baekhyun’s ability to sense vampires still works the same way it did when he was human. This is probably a _really_ bad idea if that’s the case. Baekhyun’s ability can take a lot out of him, and in the past, whenever Baekhyun overexerted himself scanning for their target during hunts, he would pass out, skin clammy with sweat, and it’s only after Kyungsoo coaxes soup and small morsels of bread into his mouth does colour slowly return to his face. Kyungsoo’s not sure if that’s still the case now – just with _blood_ instead of food – and he should open his mouth to ask but he’s not sure if this is something he wants to mention in front of Jongdae, reveal Baekhyun’s weakness even though Kyungsoo trusts Jongdae to have his back on hunts because… well, just…

Just _in case_.

(Jongdae and Baekhyun’s only met each other for a week, with almost no interaction in between, and Kyungsoo’s perhaps being paranoid but this is _Baekhyun_ and – you know what, never mind, he doesn’t want to follow this train of thoughts to the end.)

“Can we talk outside for a moment?” Kyungsoo hears himself say, already beckoning for Baekhyun to follow without checking Jongdae’s reaction. He hadn’t even realise he’d made a decision in his own head.

“Give us a minute,” is what Baekhyun says, a small nod towards Jongdae, and perhaps, after all this time, it’s still Baekhyun who knows how to treat people well with ease while Kyungsoo’s the one stumbling after, pretending to play pleasant even with people he knows.

 

 

 

“I wanted to ask,” Kyungsoo says the moment they’re out of earshot, the coldness of the ground seeping past his shoes to his unsocked feet, “Do you still end up fainting whenever you overuse that ability?”

Baekhyun looks at him, lower lip folded under his front teeth, fangs mostly hidden.

“I… haven’t tried pushing myself since I... became a vampire.”

“…Oh,” Kyungsoo breathes, not sure what he had been expecting. There’s something that feels like relief in his chest, but also a sudden dread unfurling in his belly. “Are you gonna…?”

“I can try,” Baekhyun starts, and that ugly pit growing in Kyungsoo’s belly deepens. “It’s probably a good step to take, seeing how we’re stuck and all. But I should probably feed first if I’m going to attempt to sense vampires in a larger area than I usually do.”

“Right, that’s… That’s probably smart,” Kyungsoo says. He fidgets in his pockets, mind whirring. “Are you going to tell Jongdae about… how you may need more sustenance if you’re overworked?”

Baekhyun grimaces slightly.

“I’ll want to avoid it if possible. He’s not exactly fond of vampires, you know?”

Kyungsoo nods, vaguely guilty. He knows. He’s a vampire hunter himself, had felt the same way about those bloodsuckers until Baekhyun got turned.

(He still hates vampires, but not… not Baekhyun. Definitely not Baekhyun.)

“But,” Baekhyun continues, looking at his feet and not at Kyungsoo, “It’s probably better if I let him know upfront. At least, if anything happens, it won’t take him by surprise.”

“Right,” Kyungsoo drawls, not realising the full implications of what Baekhyun is saying, until Baekhyun’s asking –

“Do you want to tell him, or should I?”

Kyungsoo blinks. A few times.

“Does it make a difference?” is what he gets out in the end, because Baekhyun’s already decided, he realises.

Baekhyun huffs, a silly little sound.

“No, I guess not. Come on, the night is just getting older the more we drag this. Let’s go back and tell him.”

“Okay,” Kyungsoo says. “Okay.” He trudges behind Baekhyun, not sure what he feels about this.

 

 

 

“It’s a bad idea,” Jongdae concludes, after Baekhyun explains how expanding his sensing range overworks his body and causes it to shut down until he consumes more… sustenance.

(Sustenance. Food. Blood. Are they the same? Are they not? Better not finish that train of thought either.)

“You were the one who came up with it though,” Kyungsoo mumbles under his breath, not expecting either of them to hear, but maybe he’s not as soft as he thinks, or Jongade simply has better hearing than he does.

“Well, I didn’t know the side effects before, but now I do,” Jongdae remarks, voice calm despite the accusation. He frowns a little though. “Based on what Baekhyun said, I think it’s too big of a risk if the potential side effects could be a hungry vampire –” he turns to Baekhyun, a slight incline of his head – “No offense there –”

“None taken,” Baekhyun shrugs, “It’s a fact anyway, the vampire bit –”

“Right, so, let’s scrap this idea, it’s too risky for the little potential lead we can get,” Jongdae finishes.

“Alright,” Baekhyun mumbles, body sagging in what appears to be relief even though a few minutes ago, he had been raring to go through with this terrible plan.

(The terrible plan which Kyungsoo didn’t actively try to stop.)

“Maybe we can get a lead with the missing person search instead,” Kyungsoo offers, a vain attempt to redeem himself.

“…Yeah...” Jongdae has a small smile on his face and it doesn’t quite reach his eyes – serious – or his jaw – tight. “I guess we can just work that angle, see if we can get anything more. Maybe we should take a look at the missing persons record from the nearby towns too, see if they match any of the victims. It’ll be useful to know who these drained vampires are.”

“Were,” Baekhyun corrects lightly. “But yeah, it’s probably helpful to know who they were as humans. Though I don’t get why anyone would drain vampires and leave it out for people to find because they’ll just get hunters on their trail.”

“Maybe they’re not the smartest vampires around,” Kyungsoo starts, but then his phone rings, and whatever Jongdae was going to say in response gets put on hold as Kyungsoo raises his palm because this is the org calling. “Hello?”

“Hey Kyungsoo? Minseok here. Thought you should know, we were just informed that there’re two new victims found in the town next to where you and Jongdae are. Vampires too, it seems.” Minseok continues for a while more, recounting details of the report the org had received, and then he hangs up, leaves Kyungsoo with a dial tone and two curious faces.

“What did the org call about?” Jongdae asks, already having deduced who’d called without Kyungsoo saying a thing.

“There’re two new victims in the next town, likely vampires too,” Kyungsoo repeats, thinking over what Minseok had told him. “Guess it’s time to chase this new lead while the trail is hot.”

“Sure,” Jongdae says, but Baekhyun’s the one already standing up.

“Time to pack and move then.”

“Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of those fics I want to read but is really painful to write but hey, look, progress. I swear this is moving somewhere. Slowly, but hopefully surely. Also, there's something important here in this chapter, hint hint.
> 
> Anyway, I'll love to know what you think!
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/cian1675) | [tumblr](https://stillcian1675.tumblr.com/) | [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/cian1675)


	4. Leads

They’re in the car in fifteen minutes, bags tossed in the boot, loathe to waste time now that they have a more solid lead. Kyungsoo takes the wheel while Jongdae lingers behind for a moment, lets Baekhyun walk ahead so he can see which seat he’ll take –

He gets into the backseat.

Huh.

Jongdae stands there for a moment. He doesn’t know if he’s surprised because Baekhyun didn’t claim shotgun or because he now has to spend a two hour drive with a vampire at his back.

“You done?” Kyungsoo asks, head stuck out of the window, round eyes trained on him.

“Yeah, coming,” Jongdae answers quickly, slips into the seat next to Kyungsoo with practiced ease.

He’ll worry about this later.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo has the radio on during the drive. Normally that’s enough, Jongdae not one to need conversation but maybe something about having Baekhyun sit just behind him makes him nervous. Maybe. Or it could be the excitement from the new clues in the next town.

_Right._

Whatever the case is, Jongdae finds himself snatching glances at Baekhyun. He tries his best to be discreet but after their eyes meet for the fourth time, he finds himself abruptly asking –

“What’s that silver flask contain?”

There’s a thin metal container hooked on Baekhyun’s pants, an ever present item kept within his reach even when he sleeps and Jongdae’s noticed it for a while now, had come up with a few theories on its contents even. Given his top guess, the flask is perhaps not the best thing to be asking about but well, Jongdae might have panicked a little when Baekhyun had held his gaze in the rearview mirror for too long.

“It’s holy water,” Baekhyun answers casually, the same time Kyungsoo says –

“Holy water.”

Ah. It’s not blood then.

Someone laughs, and Jongdae realises he’d said his thoughts out loud.

“In case you haven’t noticed, blood _coagulates_. It’s really not something anyone wants to keep around.” It takes Baekhyun a while to say this, laughing as much as he is, but even after the guffaws stop, there’s still a little smile in the corners of his mouth, the ends tugging his cheeks high.

“ _Right_ …” Jongdae mumbles. He turns to Kyungsoo who just shrugs, eyes still on the road.

“Baekhyun always hunts with holy water. It’s how we were taught.”

_We._

Kyungsoo says it offhandedly, but Jongdae’s ears can’t help but catch on the word anyway.

_We._ Not just _he._ We.

It’s only normal, Jongdae tries to remind himself. After all, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun used to hunt together – had grown up together – and there’s still that matter of the ring around Baekhyun’s neck, the one Kyungsoo used to wear every day. Despite knowing this, Jongdae’s mouth goes dry and an odd taste – mostly imaginary – settles along his throat. Before he accidentally asks any more awkward questions, Jongdae decides to reach for his phone, decides to make himself useful instead.

 

 

 

Twenty minutes, a seat change, and his laptop teetered to his phone’s data later, Jongdae has the report the org was sent. He’s a little less uneasy now that he’s in the backseat, Baekhyun having moved to the front when they pulled over at a petrol station. Needing more space for his laptop wasn’t a lie, mostly; his laptop doesn’t _really_ need a seat by itself but it’s not like it hurts to have it there either.

Scrolling through the report, Jongdae reads what’s on the screen out loud, makes mental notes on things to check on later. Then, because they’ve not reached their destination yet, he hacks into the missing persons database of the new town they’re heading to, searches through the online records but doesn’t manage to find anything matching the victims based on the descriptions.

_More things to check on then._

Another read-through and then the background study’s done, Jongdae’s powering down his laptop. He’s just keeping his mouse and hard-drive away when he finds Baekhyun staring at him, his eyes the slightest hint of silver reflected in the mirror.

_What –_

The word’s scarcely been formed before Jongdae’s quickly averting his gaze, acting like he needs all his focus to tuck his devices back into his bag. He doesn’t realise what he’s reflexively done, doesn’t realise he’d turned away first even though _he_ wasn’t the one caught staring until later, much _much_ later. And then, he doesn’t know what to do with that information, so he ends up fiddling with the cigarette pack in his pocket, tempted to light one but doesn’t.

The rest of the drive is quiet.

 

 

 

There are fangs on the two new victims. Jongdae’s examining the first corpse, trying to find signs of injury on her body after confirming that she has long incisors. On the table beside, Kyungsoo’s doing the same for the second body as well, brows furrowed in concentration, and the only other person in the morgue is the local police officer – Baekhyun’s gone off with the car and luggage to find a motel for the three of them.

(There’re definitely upsides to having a third person in their team, even if the guy’s a vampire.)

“When and where were they found?” Jongdae asks later, pulls off his latex gloves because the mortician was right – there aren’t any visible signs of injury save for twin pinpricks on her lower arm, crusty with dried blood.

“Tonight. The woman was found off the alley, a little behind the bins. The guy was in a similar situation, about two blocks away.”

The police officer with them is a friendly lady, talkative and more cooperative than they’re used to. Jongdae wonders if it’s because she’s Asian as well, something about sharing an odd sense of camaraderie from being minorities in America even if she’s Chinese and not Korean.

Kyungsoo pulls off his gloves with a snap, tosses them into the bin.

“Any ID?”

“Nah.” She takes out two Ziploc bags. “No cards in any of their wallets either.”

Jongdae reaches for their personal effects, eager to examine them anyway because this is a fresh trail – the corpses aren’t even fully stiff yet – and he’s leafing through the receipts in one when a crackling noise sounds.

The police officer walks off a little, hand on her walkie-talkie. Some muffled conversation and a short moment later, she’s back, a slight smile showing teeth.

“Seems like we might have a name for the female vic.”

Jongdae looks up the same time Kyungsoo does.

They exchange mutual looks of surprise.

 

 

 

“Someone just reported this lady missing an hour ago,” the clerk at the administrative level says and Jongdae blinks.

“That’s _really_ recent.”

Kyungsoo’s voice is low but it startles the clerk anyway. Jongdae’s about to apologise on his behalf but he notices the look in Kyungsoo’s eyes – the one he has when he gets an epiphany – and then, it suddenly occurs to Jongdae –

“Maybe our vics are not in any of the missing persons database because they’re so newly missing that no one’s reported them yet.”

The moment they say this, in similar if different phrasing, Kyungsoo starts moving, and Jongdae almost runs after him before he remembers that he should say something to the officers. They couldn’t have done this without their help. Slightly bowing – old habits die hard – Jongdae quickly thanks them for everything they’ve done and then he’s going down the corridor for Kyungsoo, heart beating fast with something other than physical exertion.

They might be on to something now.

Fuck.

 

 

 

It takes a painful ten minutes before Baekhyun’s back, car braking in front of the station at a rate that would make Jongdae wince if he wasn’t so antsy.

“What’s the matter?” Baekhyun asks the moment he stops, but before anyone manages to say anything, Kyungsoo’s opened the door to the driver side.

“Baekhyun, scoot over. Passenger seat. I need you to see if you can pick up any vampire that’s in the vicinity –”

“W-wait, what’s going on?” Baekhyun asks, even as he hurriedly climbs over the clutch because Kyungsoo doesn’t give him time to get out.

“The victim we examined earlier was still _fresh_ ,” Jongdae manages to answer as he scrambles onto the backseat himself, barely strapping in his seatbelt before Kyungsoo’s speeding off to where the two victims were found.

“Oh. Fuck.”

Baekhyun’s suddenly leaning forward in his seat, fingers wedged into the corner of his mouth, nibbling _nibbling_ until the skin on the tips are red and the nervous energy – anticipation, excitement, trepidation – spreads.

“We gotta hurry.”

“I know,” Kyungsoo says, and then he’s focused solely on driving, Jongdae left to fill Baekhyun in on what they’d come to realise at the station.

 

 

 

Baekhyun is eager to start the search, Jongdae can tell. He is too, even though they’ve not reached the alley yet, but then Kyungsoo says –

“Baek, don’t forget that you’ve not fed in a week. I really don’t want you to…”

“Faint, right,” Baekhyun finishes, the skin on his forefinger raw but he keeps scrapping his teeth on it anyway. “Shit, if I’d known this would happen, I would have fed yesterday.”

“You wouldn’t have known,” Jongdae mumbles quietly, scanning the streets from the car windows to see if he can spot anything strange. He knows it’s too late for their target to still be hanging around if he’s smart – and they’ve already figured that he _is_ smart – but Jongdae does it anyway, tries to do what he’s supposed to be good at, trained in, and that is to _hunt_. He fiddles with his blade, just the tiniest bit because he has to keep it in a while if he’s to get out of the car and it doesn’t quite help the way spinning it would, but it’s better than nothing. It doesn’t take long before Kyungsoo stops in the alley, Jongdae’s sheathing his weapon in a second, getting out in what he hopes isn’t an obvious hunter stance once the vehicle’s stationary.

“I’m going to go around the area, see if I get anything.”

“Be careful,” Kyungsoo says, concern clear in his voice but he doesn’t follow, makes no move to leave Baekhyun’s side. Jongdae had expected as much – it’s probably safer, keep an eye on the vampire who might faint from overexertion, avoid him draining the nearest available blood source – but Jongdae finds himself halting for a moment to take it in all the same. And then, in the next breath, rationality comes rushing back and Jongdae’s pushing off onto the sidewalk, crossing the street in light strides to do his job.

Time to hunt.

 

\---------

 

Kyungsoo’s uncharacteristically fired up. It’s a niggling hum in the background even when Baekhyun closes his eyes, breathes in deep to fill useless lungs to find that space in his head. When he finally gets there, senses sluggish with how they’re tuned out to hone in on the presence of vampires, all Baekhyun gets is a faint buzz of…

Nothing.

“There… there aren’t any vampires nearby.”

Kyungsoo lets out a low curse.

“Are we too late?”

Baekhyun squeezes his eyes closed tighter, tries to push his radar further, but –

Nothing. Just…

Blackness.

This time, it’s Baekhyun who lets out a curse.

We’re too late.

He’s opening his eyes as disappointment sinks in, and that’s why he doesn’t notice Kyungsoo’s reaching for his hand until his palm is against Baekhyun’s own, and Baekhyun has a second to think, _shit, he’s going to burn himself_ before he realises that Kyungsoo’s grip is just warm, not _searing_.

“What –”

He doesn’t have time to voice his question (the tangled thoughts in his head, shock, surprise) before Kyungsoo’s declaring –

“I have an idea, come on, we need to get back into the car.”

 

 

 

The idea involves Kyungsoo’s driving, while Baekhyun uses his ability to find vampires with what limited radius he has. It’s a pretty inefficient way to work – cover one small area one mile at a time – but it’s better than giving up immediately because they think they’ve lost the not-quite-hot-but-still-warm trail.

Baekhyun holds onto the strange feeling of _sensing_ , tries to find something past the mess of blackness in his mind’s eye, and he only registers that Kyungsoo’s found Jongdae on the streets when the car door opens, boots shuffling and his seat jostles.

“Sorry,” someone – probably Jongdae – says, but Baekhyun pays it no mind, fights to keep what energy he has on maintaining the sense of _feeling_. He’s concentrating on that headspace, pushing, pushing and letting his mind reach out until –

_Fuck!_

His eyes fly open without his intention, body jerking forward with what feels like a dry heave.

“What’s wrong?”

Kyungsoo’s hand is on his back – no burning this time either – but Baekhyun doesn’t have the time to even be surprised because –

“I felt _him_.”

“Who?” Jongdae asks, way too curious, and Baekhyun can’t find the saliva in his mouth to answer.

“Who is it?” Kyungsoo asks again when Baekhyun doesn’t reply, and Baekhyun has to clench his fists, dig his nails into the flesh of his palms before he manages to speak.

“K-kyung. I felt Kyung.”

There’s a short blink, Jongdae clearly confused, brows sloped low on the ends, and Kyungsoo has a similar expression on his face, just much _much_ harder.

“That’s… That’s impossible, Baekhyun. he’s _dead_. I _killed_ him.”

Killed? Baekhyun swallows, shivering at memory of the phantom sensation he’d felt earlier when his mind brushed past that… that vampiric presence. He’s not wrong, he isn’t –

“No, it’s definitely him. It’s definitely Kyung.”

Baekhyun can _tell_ , even from that short contact. He doesn’t know how to explain it – doesn’t want to remember _why_ he can tell that asshole apart from all the other vampires – but he _knows_.

“It’s definitely Kyung. He’s somewhere near, maybe a couple of miles away.”

Kyungsoo lets out a wheezing breath. For a long moment, the air is tense, stiff, heavy, and then, quietly, Jongdae clears his throat.

“Uh. Not to interrupt this conversation, but, just… _who_ is Kyung?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's Kyung eh ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> Anyway, a quicker update this time because I suddenly got fired up to write and all. Ahh, the plot is moving, and I hope you like this! I'll love to know what you think! Also, I hope you have fun for any end of year celebrations you have, and that you'll enjoy all the year end performances Exo's giving!
> 
> Feel free to come talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/cian1675)~


	5. Blood and relations

The first thing Jongdae learns is this:

Kyung is a vampire who is in no way related to Kyungsoo.

“Uh… Okay? Of course? I wouldn’t think that?”

Jongdae is utterly confused. But then, he remembers something Kyungsoo had once said.

“Wait, is this why you told me to never shorten your name when we first met?”

Baekhyun makes a choked sound, earns a glare from Kyungsoo.

“Park Kyung is the vampire we were supposed to kill before Baekhyun got turned,” Kyungsoo mumbles, eyes averted.

“Oh-kay,” Jongdae gets out, knows it’s an answer but unable to see its relevance regardless. The expression on Baekhyun’s face has returned to something grim after that bark of laughter, and he looks a little sick.

“Kyung’s not dead though.”

Baekhyun’s voice is soft, and Kyungsoo’s one is too, frustration and patience strained in equal mix.

“He _wasn’t_ dead back when it was our job to kill him, but I’ve gone back to finish the job, Baek. I burned him to ashes, I made sure of it. Heck, I even took the extra precaution of scattering his ashes in three different bodies of water to make sure he can’t ever resurrect –”

“He… he’s the one you killed that night,” Jongdae suddenly realises. The one Kyungsoo used the flamethrower on, the extra vampire kill that he didn’t explain to Jongdae.

“That… that doesn’t make sense,” Baekhyun breathes, voice low. “I definitely felt him. I –”

“Why are you so sure it’s him?” Jongdae asks without thinking. There’s something he’s not getting here, he’s not seeing the full picture, he just knows –

“Because,” Baekhyun frowns, eyes a little unfocused, voice thread-thin and shaky, “he was the one who turned me.”

Oh, Jongdae would say, but he doesn’t manage to because in the next moment, Baekhyun’s eyes close and he suddenly slumps.

“Baekhyun?”

Kyungsoo has his palm on Baekhyun’s forehead, muttering a curse.

“Fuck, I think he used up too much energy earlier.”

 

 

 

An immobile vampire is deadweight. That’s something Jongdae’s always known, something he’d dealt with countless times on the job and it’s never been an issue before. But then again, he’s never had to be careful about moving unconscious vampires in the past, so there’s that. Kyungsoo carries Baekhyun out of the car and most of the way to the motel room by himself, but Jongdae has to help a little at the door when they’re finding keys from Baekhyun’s jacket and just –

“What are we going to do about…”

Him. Baekhyun. The word is there but Jongdae feels weird saying it out loud for some reason.

(Him. Baekhyun. Vampire.)

Kyungsoo huffs, wipes his sweaty brow once he gets Baekhyun onto the bed.

“I… don’t know,” he says eventually, pulling off his jacket. They remain immobile like that, until Kyungsoo gets up, mumbles, “He… needs blood.”

“Right,” Jongdae mumbles, sneaks glances at Kyungsoo, unable to tell where this is going. He makes a vague gesture, “Are you gonna…”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says, palms wiped down his pants like he’s lost, or maybe he’s preparing himself, steeling himself. “Do you want to go? I mean, you don’t have to stay inside.”

“Right,” Jongdae repeats, crinkled cigarette pack flimsy between his fingers already. “I’m just going to go out for a smoke.”

“Okay, see you later,” Kyungsoo says with what is probably supposed to be a reassuring smile but it just makes Jongdae’s fingers twitch. Rather than comment on that, Jongdae slides a cigarette between his lips, says –

“Yell if you need my help.”

“Yeah, got it, thanks.”

 

\---------

 

The first time Baekhyun opens his eyes, they’re heavy, lids gummy and vision blurry. Someone coaxes his mouth open and his body complies, too weak to protest. There’s a familiar taste on his tongue, thick and cloying, before his consciousness fades again.

The next time Baekhyun opens his eyes, he feels a bit more like himself. Head fuzzy, neck strained and limbs weak, but this time at least, his thoughts are not completely gone.

“Thank god,” someone says, and Baekhyun doesn’t need to look up to know it’s Kyungsoo.

“Did I –”

“Faint?”

Kyungsoo huffs, almost a snort, and Baekhyun winces a little.

“I… Did I overexert myself?” Baekhyun asks cautiously, even though he can pretty much already guess. He’s expecting Kyungsoo to smack his head, tell him off for not taking care of himself during a hunt like he’d always done, but instead, what he gets is a metal cup thrusted into his hand once he sits up.

“Drink.”

Baekhyun blinks, stares at the cup warm between his hands for long enough to realise that this is actually the cap of the thermos Kyungsoo uses.

“Is this…”

There’s a sound of frustration from Kyungsoo, low and muffled, and Baekhyun hears him scrubbing his hand over the buzzed hair on his nape.

“Yes, Baek, it’s blood. Would you just drink it first? You look really pale.”

A joke about vampires being naturally pale is on the tip of his tongue but Kyungsoo’s eyes are trained on him when Baekhyun looks up, too dark to decipher, and Baekhyun swallows it. He does, however, need to know something before he drinks the cup of blood in his hands, no matter how tempting the smell is.

“Whose… is it?”

A beat of silence follows, before Kyungsoo sighs.

“Mine.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun lets out, suddenly spotting the clean slice of red along Kyungsoo’s forearm. It’s not a short cut even though it seems mostly shallow from where he is. He doesn’t get to think about it though, because Kyungsoo is nudging him, bringing the cup closer to his lips. Baekhyun has a second to wonder yet again how Kyungsoo can touch him without burning, before the smell of blood takes over, and he _drinks_.

 

 

 

“So,” Baekhyun says, after the second cup of blood. It had been weird to see Kyungsoo go over the wound again with a blade to drip blood into the cup, but it’s not as weird as… this. “You can touch me,” Baekhyun states, not sure how to phrase his question. “Without burning.”

Kyungsoo’s lip twitches.

“Yes.”

It’s stating the obvious, but Baekhyun isn’t sure what to ask, where to start asking.

“You still have your tattoos,” Baekhyun fumbles, notices Kyungsoo only blinking rapidly even though his neck and arms are clearly exposed, all the familiar patterns of ink still lining his skin. “…How?” It’s not even a complete question, but Kyungsoo bows his head, glancing at the floor.

“I… lost faith,” Kyungsoo says, voice low and too quiet. “After.”

“After… _After_ I changed?” Baekhyun states, more than asks, and he watches Kyungsoo nod once, slightly.

 _Why_ , Baekhyun wants to ask, but the hunch of Kyungsoo’s shoulder is defensive, and Baekhyun’s not sure if he really _really_ wants to know the answer either. “Okay,” he says instead, “Okay, so you won’t burn if I accidentally touch you or anything now, right?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head.

“No.”

Baekhyun is the one to nod this time, trying to find words. What he gets instead is an awkward chuckle escaping from his own mouth. “Could have told me this earlier so I didn’t have to be so mindful about avoiding contact with you during the hunt you know.”

The joking tone doesn’t quite fly, but Kyungsoo tries to smile a little anyway, short and vaguely pained.

“I couldn’t really find a good time to bring it up,” is what he says eventually, voice small. They stay like that for a moment, Baekhyun still holding the cup, Kyungsoo in front of him, until he suddenly realises…

“Wait, where’s Jongdae?”

 

 

 

Jongdae takes just five minutes to return after Kyungsoo calls, and the first thing he says is –

“You look better.”

“Uh, thanks?” Baekhyun looks between him and Kyungsoo, not sure what to say. Jongdae smells like an ashtray, and there are lines under his eyes. Baekhyun isn’t sure what to do with his observation. Was he worried? “Were you just outside?”

“Yeah,” Jongdae answers, blinks before he adds quietly, “In case Kyungsoo needed help.”

His tone is neutral and he doesn’t say anything else but Baekhyun hears the implications regardless. There’s a short silence, and Baekhyun belatedly realises that the cup is still on the bedside table, unwashed, and Jongdae’s noticed. Before Jongdae can say anything about it, Baekhyun’s the one speaking up –

“If it’s uncomfortable, I can go.”

He expects Kyungsoo to disagree – he was the one who’d asked Baekhyun for help after all – but he doesn’t quite expect Jongdae’s scoff.

“Of course it’s uncomfortable –”

Baekhyun’s heart sinks a little even though he’d known this would happen, but then Jongdae’s already continuing –

“But, don’t be dumb. If you’ve sensed your maker around here, that’s something we would need to investigate, even if it turns out he’s not connected to the original hunt.”

Baekhyun sinks back on the bed, swallowing non-existent saliva. The reason is utilitarian but it does make sense. Still, he decides to try again.

“Are you sure? I mean, I can follow up with that on my own –”

“Look,” Jongdae cuts in, raking a hand through his hair, eyes meeting Baekhyun’s, holding his gaze, “I don’t like the fact that you are a vampire but you’ve not done anything besides try too hard for the hunt and that’s not something worth kicking you out for. So just stop worrying for a second there, would you?”

Jongdae doesn’t look away, and Baekhyun ends up being the one to turn away first.

“… okay.”

 

 

 

They end up splitting up the work.

Jongdae goes out to make a call to the local police, see if they can talk to the person who reported the recent female victim missing. Kyungsoo lingers in the room for a moment, looking around at anywhere but Baekhyun before he says that he needs to make a call as well. That leaves Baekhyun alone in the motel room, staring at a number in his phone that he hasn’t called in a long time.

After much too long a time spent considering whether it’ll be impolite to call given how they’d parted – how Baekhyun had upped and left – Baekhyun decides to bite the bullet and press ‘call’ without thinking. Who knows, maybe the number is no longer in use and –

“Hello?”

Oh yeah, nope. Wistful thinking.

“Er, hi… Chanyeol?”

There’s silence on the line for a while, Baekhyun wondering if the other vampire has hung up, but then there’s a small sigh, and then, a watered down version of Chanyeol’s usual cheeriness.

“Hey Baekhyun. Haven’t heard from you in a while. How are you?”

He sounds kind of tired, but Baekhyun doesn’t mention it. Instead he tells Chanyeol he’s okay, then tries to get to the actual purpose of this call.

“So uh, I was wondering if you know anything about whether vampires can sense their makers…”

There’s another long pause, before Chanyeol says –

“Do you mean in general, or…”

Baekhyun brings a finger between his lips, nibbling.

“In general, and if you know anything about vampires like me too, I suppose.”

Chanyeol laughs, almost a snort.

“Baekhyun, I don’t think many people, vampire or human, have your ability to sense vampires.”

Baekhyun nods before he remembers that Chanyeol can’t see.

“Right… Uh, so, in general then. Can vampires sense their makers? Can _you_ sense your maker?”

Chanyeol takes a while, but eventually he sighs.

“No, I can’t sense my maker. I think most vampires can’t as well.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun lets out, scraps his front teeth over the nail of his forefinger before letting it drop. Did he really sense Kyung then, when Kyungsoo had already killed him, and so _thoroughly_ that Kyung can’t resurrect? On one hand, Baekhyun knows what he’d felt when he was in his head, but on the other, he _trusts_ Kyungsoo, and hence Kyungsoo’s word that he’s killed Kyung and that’s just… well, something doesn’t add up here, does it?

“Thanks Chanyeol,” Baekhyun mumbles instead, feels vaguely relieved when Chanyeol tells him it’s fine and then hangs up. He doesn’t know what else to say if the conversation had continued, honestly, and the pieces of puzzle that don’t fit in his head doesn’t help either. Flopping on the bed, Baekhyun closes his eyes, exhales.

If he thinks about this rationally, he’s always been something of an anomaly because of his ability to sense vampires. And frankly, Baekhyun doesn’t know how turning into a vampire could have affected his ability. He doesn’t know why he was so sure that that it was Kyung’s presence he’d sensed beyond a gut feeling that he’s _right_ , which isn’t rational. But at the same time, he doesn’t know enough to disprove that it _wasn’t_ Kyung either.

Ugh.

He turns over, lies on his stomach, face buried in the pillow.

His conversation with Chanyeol hadn’t really helped and he doesn’t know any other vampires that he can ask for a second opinion. _Great_.

Maybe Kyungsoo and Jongdae would have better leads, Baekhyun thinks – _hopes_ – before deciding this is about all he can do for the night and lets the pull of sunrise drag him to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've said this many times but this is not an easy story to write, so yeah, sorry about taking almost half a year to update this :/ That aside, I hope you've enjoyed the update and I'll love to know what you think about the development!
> 
> P.S.: I have a thing about not calling Kyungsoo "Kyung" simply because I just think of Park Kyung. I usually end up giving him the nickname "Soo" in fics but sometimes that makes me think of Myungsoo as well and lol, there's just no good way to do this. xD


	6. Things better left unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really sorry this took so long OTL  
> You might want to skim through the last chapter to remember where this last left off.

In the horizon, the first rays of sunlight gleam, orange-yellow streaked with red, filtered by sparse trees. In his hand, Kyungsoo’s phone lies, an old memorised numbered keyed in for the past five minutes. When he finally hits the call button, all he gets is ringing, long enough that he almost gives up. Just as Kyungsoo’s about to end the call, someone picks up.

“Who’s this?”

Junmyeon sounds almost the same as five years ago, maybe a tad gruffer. Kyungsoo cuts to the chase, knows Junmyeon would hang up quickly if he didn’t know who’s on the line.

“Kyungsoo. And no, it’s not a joke, it’s really me.”

There’s silence on the line. And then –

“Not that I’m not glad you finally called, but _why_ –”

“Why now? Or why you?”

On the other side of the line, Junmyeon laughs, soft and dry.

“Why now, I guess.” There’s a pause, and then Junmyeon continues, “I’m going to assume you called me because you want information but didn’t want anyone else in the clan to know?”

Kyungsoo squints at the brightening sky, now orange with pink on the edges. If only there were clouds. “Yeah.” Junmyeon always was the best at figuring them out, even when they were just kids training to be hunters. “I won’t call if I had another option but I have questions that I think only the clan would know.”

Junmyeon hums. Kyungsoo takes it as his cue to continue.

“I know not everyone in the family has vampire sensing abilities, but for those who do, can they sense individual vampires? Like can they tell one vampire apart from the rest?”

“Do you mean one specific vampire or just any vampire?”

“Either, I suppose.”

There’s another hum, then –

“I’ll have to dig around the archives, maybe ask people discreetly. I’ve only heard of people sensing the presence of vampires, or in some cases, how strong the vampire is, or how old they are. I’ve never heard of someone being able to distinguish one bloodsucker from the next though.” Junmyeon pauses. “The question is, why do you need to know if someone can sense particular vampires?”

Kyungsoo freezes, wonders if he should mention Baekhyun at all even if this is only Junmyeon.

“It’s related to a case I’m on,” he says instead, vague but not a lie. Junmyeon sniffs.

“Secretive as usual. Fine, keep your secrets. I’ll ask around for you, but on one condition.”

Kyungsoo tilts his head, lets the warmth of the rising sun graze his face. He’d expected as much.

“What condition?”

“Message me once in a while so I know how you’re doing. It doesn’t have to be from the same number or a long update, but it’ll be good to know you’re alive.”

Kyungsoo blinks, sees the brightness of the morning sky even behind closed lids. If he concentrates, he thinks he can see the blood vessels in the thin skin of his eyelids. Kyungsoo exhales.

“Okay. But you can’t tell them.”

There’s no elaboration on who them is, but Junmyeon doesn’t need it.

“Alright. I’ll call you back when I have something.”

“Thanks, hyung.”

 

 

 

Barely an hour later, Kyungsoo’s in a diner with Jongdae, greasy breakfast untouched. His coffee is already gone. He yawns.

“Doing okay?” Jongdae asks, even though he hasn’t slept a wink either. Kyungsoo stretches his neck briefly, then sits up straighter in an attempt to make himself more alert.

“I’ll be fine. We’re lucky she agreed to talk to us so quickly.”

No sooner were the words uttered that a lady enters the diner, looking left and right like she’s searching for someone.

“Here,” Jongdae waves, voice suddenly more exuberant than it had been earlier. If Kyungsoo hasn’t just seen how bloodshot his eyes are, he wouldn’t have known that Jongdae’s cheeriness is faked. “Miss Jung, am I right?”

“Just call me Yerin,” the lady replies easily as she takes the seat opposite Kyungsoo and Jongdae. She has a smile on her face but her eyes are serious like she’s assessing them. Kyungsoo likes her on principle already. The world could use more cautious people.

“Yerin,” Jongdae says, his manner relaxed like it’s not their first meeting. Kyungsoo envies that ability. Baekhyun has it too, a gift for putting people at ease almost immediately. “Thank you for agreeing to meet us on such short notice. I understand you were the one who reported your friend missing yesterday.”

“Yes,” Yerin says, her smile fading a little. “Eunbi – she’s my roommate… She hadn’t been home for two days. I got worried.”

Kyungsoo can’t tell if the police have already told her about what happened with Jung Eunbi. Maybe not, since Yerin’s still holding up and requested an early meeting so she can go to work on time. Kyungsoo observes her quietly, notices her slipping in questions about their affiliation to the police and trying to figure out their full names. If Kyungsoo wasn’t trying to do his job, he would respect her tenacity and subtlety. As it is, Kyungsoo admires how Jongdae manages to skilfully sidestep her questions without losing credibility on their side, winning her over with what seems like genuine concern. It’s halfway through Jongdae chatting to her, asking her about Eunbi, that Kyungsoo realises something.

“You mentioned Eunbi had a stomach upset shortly before she went missing.”

Yerin looks at Kyungsoo, nods.

“Yeah, we had a huge dinner the night before. But something was probably stale, because both of us had stomach upset the next morning.”

Jongdae glances at him, raises a single brow. Kyungsoo blinks slowly, tries to figure out how to ask what he wants without revealing to Yerin that her friend is not only missing but actually dead, and had died a _vampire_ as well.

“Does Eunbi always eat normally?”

Jongdae gives him a funny look at that. Kyungsoo winces internally, knows the question came out weird. Across the table, Yerin merely tilts her head.

“I guess so? She had a normal appetite. I’m not sure why this is related though.”

“We’re just trying out different angles,” Jongdae cuts in expertly, nudging Kyungsoo with his thigh. Kyungsoo takes the hint, pulls out his phone so he can type something for Jongdae instead.

_Eunbi wasn’t a vampire before she went missing._

Jongdae sees the message when he leans over casually like he’s just loosening his joints. Kyungsoo gets a nudge under the table, Jongdae tapping his foot with his toes. Kyungsoo keeps his phone.

“I think we’ve gotten all the information we need for now, Yerin,” Jongdae says, standing up to thank her. Kyungsoo gets up as well, shakes Yerin’s hand after Jongdae. It’s only after she leaves does Jongdae sit down, says, “I feel bad that she doesn’t know.”

 _Doesn’t know what?_ Kyungsoo almost asks, but figures Jongdae meant the bit about how her friend isn’t just missing but never coming back.

“Well, some things are better left unknown.”

Jongdae raises a brow, but doesn’t comment otherwise. They quickly polish off the reminder of their breakfasts after that, ready to head back to make sense of what they have just learnt.

 

 

 

“So get this,” Jongdae says, sometime between the fifth and sixth cup of coffee Kyungsoo’s consumed even though it’s not yet lunch. They really should sleep, but the little piece of information from Jung Yerim seems significant. Call it a hunch, if you would, and Kyungsoo wants to follow up on it while he has the _feeling_. So does Jongdae, it seems. They’ve been retracing the police records of the victims so far, trying to see what they might have missed earlier. Kyungsoo yawns, motions for Jongdae to continue. 

“Okay, remember the victim my ring reacted to?”

He sounds familiar, Kyungsoo thinks, but doesn’t recall a face. Oh, right. That’s because he didn’t go to the morgue with Jongdae; he had been trying to contact Baekhyun then. “The one in the first town?”

Jongdae nods. “Someone reported him missing yesterday, and I just searched up his history. Guess what his occupation is. Was,” he corrects.

Kyungsoo rubs his eyes blearily.

“I don’t know? Office worker? Strip club dancer? Get to the point, Dae.”

Jongdae halts for a second before smacking Kyungsoo’s arm.

“You’re no fun. But anyway, the guy was a lifeguard at the _beach_.”

Jongdae’s looking at him with wide eyes, patiently waiting, and Kyungsoo finds himself blinking for too long before his brain finally makes the connection.

“Wait. He wasn’t a vampire either. Before he… died.”

Jongdae grins, mouth wide, eyes grim. “Bingo.”

Huh. That makes two victims so far who had died as vampires, but who had been very much human before they went missing. Kyungsoo scratches his nape, doesn’t bother hiding yet another yawn.

“What’s the significance?”

“Someone’s turning vampires, and killing them almost too quickly?” Jongdae says. “I don’t know. It sounds like a dumb thing to do, don’t you think?”

Indeed, Kyungsoo muses, only noticing he forgot to answer after a while. And then, because it’s probably futile to continue with his current state of exhaustion, he leaves Jongdae to hacking police files, and drops onto the other bed that Baekhyun isn’t on.

Sleep comes easily once his eyelids close. He doesn’t dream.

 

 

 

There’s a vibration in his pocket. Kyungsoo lifts his head, one eye open. The caller ID doesn’t have a number, but he thinks he knows who’s calling.

“Hello,” Kyungsoo says, shuffling into shoes as he exits the motel room, closing the door behind him. It’s already dusk, the sky a warm orange.

“Hey,” Junmyeon says. He sounds tense.

“Did you find something already?”

There’s a short pause, and then –

“No. I’ve not found what you asked me to yet, although I’ve started asking around.” Junmyeon’s words are careful, measured. “But I heard something else that might be… interesting.”

“Interesting,” Kyungsoo repeats. “Interesting how?”

“Well, I’m not sure if it’s relevant, but someone was looking for you quite intently a year or two back, asked different people in the clan about you with your full name and all. You might want to be careful.”

The sun is setting over the horizon, yellow-orange rays too bright in parts, but that’s not why Kyungsoo blinks rapidly.

“Someone went to the clan to find me?” He takes in a deep breath. Thinks. A year or two back was also a few years after Kyungsoo had left. After _Baekhyun_ had left. Kyungsoo finds himself pulling on a hangnail as he thinks, winces when the action pulls off too much skin and blood oozes out. “Any description of this person?”

(Clearly it can’t be Baekhyun because anyone from the clan would have recognised him immediately. But who else would be looking for Kyungsoo in the years he ran away, if it wasn’t Baekhyun?)

There’s another pause in which Kyungsoo decides he shouldn’t suck the blood off his thumb (just… just _because_ , and not because he’s reminded of Baek, no). When Junmyeon replies, his voice sounds a little far away.

“Sehun says he’s short. Shorter than him, at least.”

A snort escapes before Kyungsoo realises. “Sehun is _tall_.”

Somehow, Kyungsoo isn’t surprised that Junmyeon might have told Sehun about him. Those two had always been close, even when they were kids. Out of the people in the clan, he supposes Junmyeon and Sehun knowing he’s doing fine is… It’s alright.

“Shorter than Sehun is too broad a description. At least tell me how short. What about his hair colour? Eye colour? Any discerning features?”

There’re sounds of Junmyeon repeating the questions to someone. This time, Kyungsoo’s definitely not even surprised that Sehun’s in the same room at the moment.

“Sehun says he’s probably Korean, spoke English with a slight accent. His lips curls up like he’s permanently smiling, and he had a lot of piercings? The last part Sehun’s not entirely sure because it’s been a while but…”

Kyungsoo doesn’t hear the rest of what Junmyeon says. Because there’s already someone who comes to mind:

Jongdae.

(If he traces it back, two years ago was roughly when Kyungsoo joined the org and got Jongdae as his vampire hunting partner. Jongdae who had just come to America from Seoul, who looks friendly because of the way his lips curl on the ends, and who always had too much silver on his ears and face.)

“Hey, Junmyeon? Sorry, I have something I need to do now.”

Kyungsoo thinks he might be too curt but his mind is racing a mile a minute now and curt is kind of what he falls back on.

“Thanks for the heads up. Call me if there’s anything else.”

He ends the call without waiting for Junmyeon’s reply. Behind him, the motel is a one storey building fading into the landscape, a row of room doors facing the car park Kyungsoo’s standing in. Earlier, Kyungsoo had briefly seen Jongdae still sleeping on the couch before he came out to take the call. It’ll be so easy to just go back in now, wake Jongdae up and ask him about this, ask him if he’s this person who had looked for Kyungsoo before the two of them were first introduced to each other at the org.

 _Sehun’s description might not even be Jongdae_ , the logical side of Kyungsoo argues. But instead of going back into the room and asking his hunting partner of two years – the same partner he’s grown to _trust_ – Kyungsoo digs inside his pockets, exhales with relief when he finds his car keys.

Maybe he should go for a drive first. Clear his head before he talks to Jongdae. Right?

Kyungsoo is behind the wheel before he registers it. When he drives away from the motel, he has no destination, no goal in mind. All he has is just an overwhelming irrational urge to be as far away from Jongdae as possible. He’s half an hour away before he remembers that Baekhyun was still in the room. With Jongdae.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh. So the three of them only got just a tiny bit further with the vampires being murdered thing, not much further with the Baek and his maker/sensing ability thing, and now there's a new problem hahh... 
> 
> I've actually planned for this since the start but wasn't sure how to bring it in, which was partly why this chapter took so long. The other reason for the slow update is that this fic needs me to be clear headed to write and honestly, after work, I don't have the energy to work on this fic. I'm going to be honest here and let you know that this story is likely to have really slow updates. However, it is a story I intend to continue, even if will most likely take ages.
> 
> I'm not sure how many readers are still reading this story after the long intervals between updates, but for those who are - Thank you, and I hope you liked this. If you have time, I would love to know what you think about this chapter :)


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